FileMaker News: Bento Template Exchange Surpasses Half-Million Downloads
More than 700 real-world templates show wide range of uses For Bento on Mac, iPhone and iPad
FileMaker, Inc. announced that over 500,000 free templates have been downloaded from the Bento Template Exchange since its launch in June 2009.
Bento by FileMaker is the popular personal database software for Mac, iPhone and iPad. The Exchange makes it easy for visitors to try Bento for free, and to browse, install and use a huge variety of real-world templates contributed by Bento users.
The Bento templates show how Bento can organize virtually any information in business, education and home settings. The more than 700 templates illustrate the virtually unlimited uses for Bento, ranging from Sales Funnel Management and Simple Home Inventory to Teacher Lesson Plans and Psychotherapy Session Notes. Among the most popular templates are Contact & Customer Manager and Project Manager.
“People get a database because they have a job to do. The template exchange provides 700 ways to accomplish whatever task you have in mind.” said Ryan Rosenberg, vice president of marketing and services, FileMaker, Inc. “A half-million downloads from the Bento Template Exchange shows that lots of people are finding this true.”
Downloading and using templates is simple and rewarding. The Exchange provides easy instructions on how to download and import templates along with easy steps for sharing your Bento templates. Bento templates may also be used with Bento for iPhone and Bento for iPad (sold separately on the iTunes App store), if they are synched with Bento 3 on the Mac.
FileMaker Announces Significant Updates to FileMaker Go for iPhone and FileMaker Go for iPad
FileMaker announced version 1.1 of FileMaker Go for iPhone and FileMaker Go for iPad, the popular new apps that let users work with FileMaker Pro databases on iPhone or iPad.
These significant updates, are available free from the iTunes App Store, and include enhancements for creating PDFs, sharing databases via email, and inserting photos in databases.
Users can now produce PDFs directly from FileMaker Go and either save them on their mobile devices or email them. This feature lets mobile users easily save and distribute reports, create invoices, and share project status directly from their iPad or iPhone.
Another enhancement is the ability to save a copy of a complete database and email it directly from FileMaker Go. With this feature, iPhone and iPad users can exchange databases from their devices without needing to dock with a desktop or laptop.
The update also delivers new ways to work more efficiently with photos and other media and information. FileMaker Go users can capture photos on an iPhone, or take photos that are already in the photo library of an iPhone or iPad, and insert them directly into a FileMaker Go database. Photos stored in a database can be emailed out later using FileMaker Go.
Other file types, such as spreadsheets, can be emailed directly from FileMaker Go. Read more
New Bento 3 Project Manager from FileMaker Makes Project and Time Management Easy
Free download includes trial version of Bento 3 personal database for Mac
FileMaker announced the Bento 3 Project Manager, a brand new set of templates designed to make it easy for Mac users to track their personal projects and manage their time within one integrated, intuitive place. The Bento 3 Project Manager includes a free 30-day trial of the popular Bento 3 personal database for Mac, plus two professionally designed, ready-to-use templates.
Templates in the Bento 3 Project Manager include:
• Project Dashboard, with forms for project overview, milestones, tasks, communications, related files such as photos and presentations, and time sheets; and
• Time Sheets, with pre-defined Smart Collections for hours billed, hours to be billed, and amounts due. All of this detailed information can be located quickly using iTunes-style searching. Read more
FileMaker Helps Students Get Organized With New Bento 3 Student Survival Kit
Free kit available with 30-day trial of Bento 3; runs on Mac, iPhone and iPad
FileMaker announced a free, easy way for students to succeed by organizing their busy daily lives using the new Bento 3 Student Survival Kit. When students download a free, 30-day trial of Bento 3 for Mac, they receive a set of beautifully designed, ready-to-use templates for organizing lecture notes, courses, group projects, special events and job searches. The templates in the kit are an integrated set of student organizing tools.
The Student Survival Kit works with Bento 3, FileMaker’s popular personal database for the Mac, and can be synchronized for use with Bento for iPhone and Bento for iPad (sold separately). Bento 3 offers new ways for students to view and interact with their information—including integration with Mac OS apps like iPhoto, Address Book and iCal —so they can organize photos, contacts, projects and events and link all of the details together into one database. Bento 3 also works with templates offered through the Bento Template Exchange, a site that showcases real-world templates for Bento that students can browse, download and import into Bento 3.
“A student’s life is filled with a flurry of activities and projects that can become overwhelming,” said Ryan Rosenberg, vice president of marketing and services for FileMaker, Inc. “Our Student Survival Kit combines the latest features of Bento 3 with templates that give students a leg up in organizing their lives. It gives them many of the tools required for success in school, and in the job search at graduation.”
The Bento 3 Student Survival Kit makes organizing the details of a busy life fast and easy. It includes these five pre-designed, ready-to-use templates: Read more
FileMaker Launches Free Business Productivity Kit With 30-Day Trial Download of New FileMaker Pro 11
Takes advantage of charting and reporting features in FileMaker Pro 11 and more
FileMaker announced the latest FileMaker Business Productivity Kit, an easy way for businesses selling both goods and services to become more productive and tackle everyday business tasks. Optimized for FileMaker Pro 11, the new Business Productivity Kit offers ready-to-use templates for businesses that streamline a variety of operations, from managing contacts and suppliers to tracking projects to processing sales and service orders. Two versions are available: a Standard Edition for companies that sell physical goods and a Services Edition for companies that provide services to clients.
“The free Business Productivity Kit is a fast-track way for small businesses to get instant results and grow their businesses,” said Ryan Rosenberg, vice president of marketing and services with FileMaker, Inc. “Our upgraded kit for small businesses combines charting and reporting features in FileMaker Pro 11 with pre-designed, ready-to-use templates to make businesses instantly more efficient and enable them to easily manage the data essential to small business success.”
Small businesses can use the Business Productivity Kit immediately for tracking customer and vendor contacts, sales, product information, invoicing, shipping and other key business data – all in one database solution. The kit is an integrated set of business tools and each module ties to the other, eliminating any need for duplicate fields, tables and data re-entry.
Packed with new and innovative features led by charting, “on the fly” reporting, a Quick Find capability, Portal Filtering, and a host of productivity tools for easier database creation, FileMaker Pro 11 makes using databases easier and quicker than ever. The Business Productivity Kit leverages the strengths of FileMaker Pro 11 by allowing businesses to easily manage the following tasks: Read more